Over the last few months, I’ve been walking, chapter-by-chapter, through the book of Genesis with some other folks here at church. The thing that has stood out to me from that book, and increasingly from the Bible as a whole, is how God almost always uses the “less than” person for His purposes. God chooses Isaac over Ishmael, He chooses Jacob over Esau, He chooses Judah over Reuben and He chooses Ephraim over Manasseh – all ...

As one travels in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa, there are two groups of people one often runs into: Mennonites and Reformed Christians. Perhaps this is the case because both kinds of Protestants believe that Scriptures and faith should compel us to make a difference in the lives of others. Mennonites go one better than the Reformed churches in one aspect: many Mennonite denominations work together in one organization: the prosaically named Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)...

I wish I could say that I have been too busy to write more.  It would not be true.  We always have time to do what we really want to do.  I have not been too busy, but to preoccupied.  I have had plenty of time to think, pray, and be silent. What have I learned? I still do not know!  I am working on a variety of thoughts and projects.  I feel like I am preparing the ground.  For what?  Here is the question!  This has been a time of active passivity.  I do not yet know the fruit of the time...

As you outlanders might have noticed, the bloggers at this site who live in the upper Midwest have been musing out loud that winter held on long in these parts this year, deep into April, and then was succeeded by a spring that was hardly worth the name. Cold. Grey. Wet. More cold. More rain. In West Michigan, a whole lot more rain. The Grand River hit its highest mark in decades, the basements of rich and poor were joined in a democracy of drowning...

Been thinking about “receiving” this week. Which, if you know me, is not my strong suite. I’m a doer. Deep inside I resonate with the idea, “Gotta work before you rest,” “Earn your time off” – that sort of thing. You, too? We “can do” hard-working types want to earn what we get. We want to feel that somehow we deserve it. In one way or another we want to pay for it...

What is the church? If you were asked, what would you say? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary reminds us that our English word ‘church’ comes from Middle English chirche. Middle English inherited the word from the Old English word cirice. Back a few centuries ago when Old English was spoken, a cirice was a public meeting place. Cirice was a building. At the root of the English’s linguistic worldview is the understanding that the ‘church’ is a building...

C.S. Lewis concludes about humility: "Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you dislike him, it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all."...

I often have discussions with folks about how to reach out into our postmodern world. Some of these discussions are pleasant and encouraging. Others are perplexing and discouraging. In fact, just this past weekend I had several discussions concerning outreach, conversion, and how that works in today's world. I found these discussions so perplexing that I have given them much thought. I do not know if I have figured everything out, but I will share some thoughts...

Me Before You is the story of Louise Clark, a Jane Eyre for 2013, a woman who has been burdened by her own indifference toward life itself. She reads a note asking for someone to be a care-giver, applies for and gets that kind of position, taking care of man who was everything she has never been before he became a quadriplegic after a horrible accident. Lou is an innocent; Will has been a feature story from the pages of GQ...

In order for a marriage to not only survive but also thrive, love has to grow.  I often share with couples coming for pre-marital counseling that the intensity of desire may wane, but if they do it right, their love will grow through the years.  How is this possible? I have witnesses such growing love, and I have lived it.  My grandfather was married for 60 years...

Thank you for your prayers and support of our ministry in Haiti.  It has been a very busy April.  We have received a team of 17 from Faith CRC of Holland, MI, and organized two training events in addition to our normal ministry activities.  Also, we have had a few challenges.  A Haitian orthopedic doctor diagnosed Sharon with a “partial avulsion of the quadriceps tendon” which means that when she fell, her tendon above her knee partially tore and took with it a small part of the kneecap.  The injury occurred in February and wasn’t immediately treated...

What did Jesus have in mind when he spoke those words? Most if not all students of Scripture agree that Jesus was offering an aphorism rather than a teaching on wine. But if Jesus’ words constitute an aphorism, how are we to understand it? What is this new wine and what are old wineskins? Jesus does not answer those questions but didn’t really need to.  The message is clear. Wineskins represent the delivery system, the wine the package...

I’ve been trying to figure out which deaths count and which don’t—not in the eyes of God, of course, but in those of the American public. Or at least of the media that purport to purvey reality to the American public. The unholy trinity of carnage last week brings the question starkly to mind: bombing in Boston, factory explosion in Texas, and the threat of a filibuster in the Senate thwarting the most modest attempt at handgun control. Each has a body count, but the least counts most.

Each Sunday we welcome guests who are spending time with us at Trinity CRC. I prefer saying guests rather than visitors. (And don’t get me started about referring to new people as strangers as I once heard a pastor do!) You might be tempted to say this is just semantics – that we’re talking about the same thing, so don’t make a big deal about it. I disagree. Although similar, the definitions of guest and visitor do...

Too many times we hear about these wonderful flowery stories in the children’s picture Bibles and in Sunday school. We don’t want to tell them about the prostitutes in the Bible, about a father about to sacrifice his son, about the sons of Jacob circumcising a whole village and then killing them all when their all healing. Yeah. Disturbing. So, what about the Biblical zombie apocalypse then? It probably...

On a Friday night in February, Deacon Campbell and I were once again teaming up to offer comfort to the family of yet another murdered youth in Chicago. It was a typically cold and dark winter night in Chicago as we made our way down Western Avenue determined to catch a few moments with the family. We knew very little of this murdered young man...

I’m presently reading Creative Ministry by Henri Nowen. And he said something interesting in his introduction–”Ministry and spirituality can never be separated.” And then later on he writes “Prayer is life; prayer and ministry are the same and can never be divorced.” And that gets me to thinking about ministry, spirituality and prayer...

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Austin (the capital of Texas, in case you didn't know) to participate in lobbying for some bills that are coming before the Texas legislature which would affect small farms in the state for the good. The main bill that we at World Hunger Relief are interested in is one which would allow farmers to sell raw (unpasteurized) milk off of the farm. Right now, it is perfectly legal to sell raw milk, but people can only purchase it at the farm; farmers cannot deliver it to people or sell at farmers' markets...

Yesterday morning I sat in my home here on the Navajo Reservation and watched a live webcast of the "Evangelical Immigration Table." I felt impotent, tired, angry and frustrated. For on my screen Christians were rallying around and celebrating the introduction of a bi-partisan immigration reform bill that was being introduced by the "Gang of 8" Senators.  I felt this way because for nearly a decade I have been talking, writing, speaking and praying about the importance of intentionally including the voices of indigenous peoples...

Following the tragedies of 9/11, the latest school shootings, and now the Boston bombing it is interesting to observe our nation's response. These shootings, bombings, and terrorist attacks should have brought us to our knees in weakness and helplessness (which is the response of some). But, the more common response we hear is “Boston strong” and “America strong”, and “We will not let this happen again on our watch”...

I can understand why people question the sorts of things Jesus does (and doesn’t do) when He appears to His followers after His resurrection. For example, each of the Gospels agree that it was a group of women who discovered the empty tomb. And Matthew and John specifically report that it was to Mary Magdalene and other women that Jesus first appeared. Why couldn’t it have been Pilate who discovered the empty tomb and encountered Jesus? Can you imagine the resurrected Jesus saying to Pilate, “Remember me?” Imagine the ...

Christianity has a long history in what is today termed Turkey. Antioch, where the followers of Jesus were first called "Christians" is located in Turkey. Turkey was where the "Seven Churches of Revelation" were located. Many Christian saints were born there, including St. Paul. In the centuries that followed countless churches were established throughout the region and it became extensively Christianized...

Sometime ago, we attended a little theatrical performance, sixteen short-short plays tossed together like a good salad maybe, all of them having something, more or less, to do with faith and its practice.  I’d say that faith was the dressing maybe, but it wasn’t—faith didn’t simply spice up the greens; faith was the greens. Punctuating the four acts of the performance were four testimonies. Two claimed they were believers; two made opposite claims...

These last few days on The 12 it seems as if we’re in the middle of something of an intentional series here, thinking through various biblical texts.  Not anything we planned, but a good reminder about how lovely it is to continue to be surprised by the plentitude of scripture.  That is a gift, no doubt: the way that each time we return to a passage, it tells us something more, something new, something else about God, creation, ourselves...